Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Wednesday extended the mandate of a Commission of Inquiry established to investigate the causes of violence during the 2016 general elections.

The Commission of Inquiry on Voting Patterns and Electoral Violence was established on October 21, 2016 and was mandated to come up with a report within 120 days of its appointment.

Among its mandate was to establish the causes of political violence in the run up to the August 11, 2016 general elections and after the elections as well as to establish what has been the voting pattern in the country between 2006 and 2016.

It was also mandated to come up with recommendations that will prevent the occurrence of violence in future elections and ensure that voting patterns reflected the will of the people, among other recommendations.

But Munalula Lisimba, the commission's chairperson said the Zambian leader has extended its mandate so that it could finish getting submissions from all the country's 10 provinces.

He told reporters during a press briefing that the commission has so far covered eight of the country's provinces, adding that the extension will allow it get submissions from the remaining two provinces.

The commission's work has been extended up to December 31, 2018, he added.

While revealing that the commission received overwhelming responses from stakeholders in provinces it has visited so far, the chairperson said the commission faced challenges of summarizing the submissions and finding the gaps in order to come up with a compressive report.

The commission has since set October 22 to 26, 2018 as dates for those cited as being behind some wrongdoings during the elections to give their side of the story in order to have a balanced view of what happened.

He further called on stakeholders to make submissions so that the commission could come up with recommendations on how to end electoral violence.